The present invention relates to utensils for serving frozen confections, and more particularly, to ice cream scoops which can be heated in a microwave oven.
It is often awkward and requires considerable effort to scoop cold and hard ice cream from its container utilizing conventional ice cream scoops. However, it is known the scooping process can be facilitated by heating the ice cream scoop so that the heated portion of the ice cream scoop will act to melt the hard ice cream it contacts, thereby making it easier for a person to scoop the ice cream. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,520 discloses an ice cream scoop that contains an interior fluid passage having an outlet for heated fluid transfer. A disadvantage with this device is that it is not a practical method for consumer use. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,604, 4,553,921 and 5,000,672 each disclose electrically heated ice cream scoops with heating elements disposed inside the scoop or bowl portion. The disadvantage with these devices is that they may pose electrical hazards when powered by 110VAC in addition to the inconvenience of having to fumble with a power cord. Furthermore, the initial warm up will often be slow since an internal resistance heating element must first be heated, then that element heat passed through an insulating layer to the scoop surface. If batteries are used with electric scoop devices, the warm-up time would be even longer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,832 discloses an ice cream scoop that may be heated with the hot air generated by a butane lighter. A disadvantage with that device is that it is awkward and inconvenient, it requires an open flame and furthermore, the lighter can tend to easily overheat the scoop.
Accordingly, there is a need for an ice cream scoop which facilitates convenient, rapid and safe heating of the bowl-shaped scoop portion of the utensil. There is also a need for providing a method for constructing such an ice cream scoop inexpensively and efficiently.